Health Administrative Services 3150
Community Health Agencies and Services
Fall Semester 2013
Instructor:Ken Johnson, PhD, CHES
Office:MHB 401
Phone:626-6988
Email:
Office hours:By appointment
Required Text: An Introduction to Public Health, 4th edition, Mary-Jane Schneider; Jones and Bartlett, ISBN: 978-1-4496-9736-5.
Description:This course covers the roots of public and community health, its origins and historical evolution. It also focuses on the management of public health programs, the prevention and epidemiology of disease, disability and dependency, as well as the interrelationship between community/public health and the environment, human development, behavioral disorders and health care services.
Objectives:Students will be able to demonstrate through hands-on experience, written assignments and testing an understanding of the basic principles of community health management as it relates to health promotion and health administration. More specifically, the student will be able to:
- Identify eras in the historical development of public health and ways that public health affects literature and the arts, current events, and everyone’s daily life.
- Explain the basic principles of epidemiology, including rates, risk factors, disease determinants, causation and public health surveillance.
- Explain how public health can utilize health information and health communications to improve the health of populations.
- Explain how public health can utilize social and behavioral interventions to improve the health of populations.
- Explain how public health can utilize health policy and law to improve the health of populations.
- Explain the impact of the environment and communicable diseases on the health of populations.
- Explain the burden of chronic diseases on morbidity and mortality and approaches to prevention and early detection.
- Describe the basic organization of health care and public health systems and the contributions of health professionals.
- Identify the roles of public health in addressing the needs of vulnerable populations and health disparities.
- Identify the roles of public health in disaster prevention and management.
- Apply the public health approach- problem, cause, intervention and implementation to a new public health problem.
- Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of potential interventions.
- Analyze the determinants of morbidity and mortality in a new situation.
- Analyze the degree of success in implementing essential public health services in a new situation.
Competencies:Upon completion of the course, students will be able to display the following competencies.
Personal Development
- Communication: Students will complete both written papers.
- Critical and Creative Thinking: The students will seek information using local and state databases to collect data and apply metrics, to analyze data, form conclusions and make recommendations.
Professional Development
- Community Awareness: The students will investigate the population health characteristics and assess population health needs of their local community. They will demonstrate an awareness of the ecological and social factors that influence health behavior.
Grading:Quizzes (20 pts. ea.)60
Assignments (25 pts. ea.)75
Attendance (5 pts per class)60
Volunteer points45
Total possible240
Quizzes:Two of the quizzes will be in class. The third quiz will available at the testing centers on Chitester on the day indicated. Students should come prepared, on time, having studied the text and notes. No make ups will be given for the quizzes without a VERY good reason, i.e. medical issue, death in the family, etc.
Assignments:Notes on assignments are attached.
Volunteer Hours:Notes on volunteer hours are attached.
Special Needs:Any student requiring accommodations or services due to a disability must contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) in Room 181 of the Student Services Center. SSD can also arrange to provide course materials (including this syllabus) in alternate formats if necessary.
Assignments:
Assignment one:
Use the World Wide Web to gather the following data about Weber County.
1.The population of Weber County in 2010.
2.The number of deaths and death rate/1000 in 2010.
3.The number of deaths and death rate/1000 in 2000.
4.The most recent health trends/concerns for the county. Any big problems? What is the county health department doing about it?
Submit a report showing the Web addresses you used and the information you gathered. This should be one or two doublespace pages. Here’s a hint:
Assignment two:
From a local newspaper, find an article addressing a local public health issue. From that article, outline what you think are the key community priorities in regards to that issue. Consider and respond to the following: (A) the size of the problem, (B) the seriousness of the problem, (C) the effectiveness of intervention, and (D) the economics, acceptability, resources and legality of the program.
The size refers to the incidence or prevalence of the health problem. The seriousness might include urgency, severity, economic loss and involvement of other people. The effectiveness of intervention is like it sounds. Can the problem be cured with a vaccine or is it more complicated? Finally, look at factors not directly related to the actual need or the effectiveness of the proposed intervention, but which determine whether a particular program can be carried out at all. Is it practical? Is it legal? Will the public accept it? Can the community afford it?
Make sure you address all four components outlined in the text. This should take at least one page but not more than two to do.
Assignment three:
Discuss in two pages or so, the controversy surrounding the use of small gaspowered engines, like lawn mowers, in terms of air pollution. How bad is the air pollution caused by small engines? Why makes this issue controversial? What is your solution, based on the facts you’ve gathered, to this problem?
Volunteer Project
Along with the final exam in this course, students must volunteer three (3) hours at a community health organization of their choice sometime during the semester. This must be volunteer hours at a facility other than one at which students may currently work. It also must be a public or community health organization rather than a private physician or some other therapeutic medical facility.
A two-page final report will be due that last day of class outlining the organization at which the student volunteered with a contact name and phone number, and a description of the volunteer experience, i.e. total number of hours volunteered, activities, clients/patients, good or bad experience, what might be done to improve the experience, and any other ideas that come to mind.
Students will earn 15 points per hour up to 45 points total.